Cause you just might get it all
by littlepiecesofme
Summary: I'm going to the place where love and feeling good don't ever cost a thing, and the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.
1. Chapter 1

It's over.

Two months of talking with lawyers, and not talking with Callie, and three long days in court, and...it's over.

Sofia is going to New York.

Arizona gazes at her daughter's empty bedroom; the lavender walls, butterfly patterned bedspread, the bright fuchsia lampshade the little girl had insisted they buy at Ikea. Her curtains are pastel rainbows, and the collection of stuffed animals that live at this house are piled onto the toy chest in the corner. On the dresser, amidst some framed family photos and favourite books, sits a ballerina jewelry box, a spaceship piggy bank, and an array of hair clips and headbands of all shapes and sizes. Everything about the room is so... _Sofia._

Sighing softly, the blonde raises the stuffed bear in her arms up to her face and breathes deeply. It still smells like her little girl, too. There had been hours of tears when she learned that she'd be moving away to another city, but she had insisted Arizona keep one of her favourite bears, Mr. Brown, and Arizona had been helpless to say no. She had, selfishly, been happy to keep the treasured companion, and he'd been sitting on her own dresser ever since.

Because it really is over.

She'll see her daughter in three weeks, and they'll go to Central Park. They'll get ice cream, and explore New York together, and wear fluffy robes and dance to too-loud music in the expensive hotel room that she's going to book for them - and then three days later she'll fly back to Seattle to this empty room and a house that no longer has toys underfoot and crayons on the coffee table, and that is much, much too silent minus its youngest occupant. She'll hug Mr. Brown, and she'll let herself curl up on the butterfly bedspread for only a moment, and she'll book her ticket for her next trip across the country.

They're not even gone yet and Arizona misses her desperately already.

If she's honest with herself, she misses more than Sofia. She misses Callie. She misses the friendship, the marriage, the _life_ she had with the other woman. She always has, but the feeling hits her square in the chest now when faced with the fact that she won't be seeing the brunette every day anymore. No more familiar glimpses of dark hair in the hallways at work, no more friendly banter over Callie's failed dates or the drama of their mutual friends. No more standing across the OR table from her and watching the beautiful, brilliant focus on her face as she works on a patient.

No more hand-offs of Sofia's favourite books, or sweaters that she left behind. No more coordinating who picks her up after dance class.

Arizona hopes Callie can find another dance school in New York. Their daughter really did love those classes.

She's going to miss watching from the sidelines.

Stepping further into the room, she places the bear in the middle of the pillows, gently smoothing a wrinkle out of the comforter. Will Sofia even like butterflies anymore a year from now?

Her eyes fall upon the framed photo that sits on the nightstand - her, Callie, and Sofia on a picnic blanket at the park. She remembers it well, that day maybe six months before their marriage collapsed on a rainy evening in a dark therapist's office. They'd asked a gentleman passing by with his dog if he could stop and take their picture, and with Callie's arms around her, and her arms around Sofia, and huge smiles on all their faces, they were the very image of a perfect family. A happy family.

And they had been, then. They'd been happy once.

The sound of the doorbell startles the blonde, bringing her out of her reverie enough to glance at the watch on her left wrist and see that it's nearly eight o'clock at night. Brow slightly furrowed, she descends the stairs as it rings again, ready to be politely annoyed at whatever door-to-door salesman has shown up this late in the evening. But when she pulls the front door open her eyes widen in surprise, mind immediately racing into overdrive as she sees the familiar face of her ex-wife standing on the porch.

"Callie? What are you - where's Sofia? Is everything alright?"

"I dropped her off at Meredith's."

"I don't understand...your flight was delayed? Where's Pen-"

Arizona trails off, barely able to let the name of the other woman escape her lips. Not after the last three days.

Callie just tilts her head towards the evening sky, a half attempt at a laugh getting stuck in her throat. But when she glances back at the blonde there's a sheen of tears coating her eyes, and a look somewhere between sorrow and fear on her beautiful face.

"Somewhere over Montana, probably."

Arizona can feel her heartbeat speed up as the words leave the other woman, but she isn't given a chance to think before the familiar voice continues.

"I'm in the airport - we're at the airport - and we make it through security and we pick up some snacks and settle in at our gate, but I'm sitting there, and all I'm doing is crying. I can't stop crying."

The brunette pauses for a moment, reaching up to wipe at her eyes.

"And not just like, blinking away tears but full on, completely crying in the middle of the waiting room. And I think it's because I'm leaving Seattle - leaving my friends, my home, work...the stress of the last couple of weeks...but then Sofia looks up at me, and she says 'mommy why are you crying?' And the first thing out of my mouth is that I'm going to miss momma. I'm going to miss _you."_

She looks skyward again for a brief moment, letting out a soft breath in the cool night air, shaking her head ever so slightly.

"And Sof...she just looks at me, and she's wearing that butterfly hoodie, and she says 'then why don't we go home?' And I just..."

The taller woman breaks then, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she meets Arizona's stunned gaze.

"I had to leave. This has all been a mistake. You're home, Arizona. You're _my_ home. And I can't keep letting you walk by because after the things you said the other day...I think you might still feel something for me and if you do - if you feel even a little someth-"

"I feel more than a little something."

Arizona manages to form words despite her complete and utter shock - but they're easy words to form. It's an effortless answer to give. Because of course she still feels something for the woman who was her wife; she feels _everything_ in her presence, and she's starting to figure out that maybe that's what love really is. It's not just the feeling of love, of caring and devotion - it's the feelings of frustration, and annoyance, and attraction, and trust. The feeling that the person in front of you both drives you insane and drives you insane with desire. The feeling of being so passionate about another person that it brings out the very best _and_ the very worst in you, and you don't care if they see it all. If they see every single piece of you. Because you want every piece of them, as well.

And Callie freezes, her dark eyes meeting blue as she hears an answer that she didn't entirely expect.

"You do?"

"I do."

The blonde's voice softens, barely audible over the quiet Seattle breeze, but her heart is screaming in her chest and her mind is overflowing with a hope she hadn't dared even think about until this moment.

"We have to..." she speaks again, her jaw trembling slightly as she holds the other woman's gaze, "Callie...are you sure about this?"

And the words have hardly left her before the blonde feels her back collide with the open front door, two strong hands cupping her cheeks before fingers slip back into her hair and warm, soft lips meet hers in a long-awaited embrace. A familiar arm slides down to wrap around her lower back, pulling her closer as the kiss deepens, but almost as soon as it's started it's over and Arizona opens her eyes to catch her breath and watch the gorgeous woman who hovers mere inches in front of her face. The brunette's eyes are awash with a million and one emotions, and Arizona can feel the palpable energy; the chemistry, the attraction, the pure magnetic force that flows between them and always seems to draw them back to one another - as if they were always meant to be right here, to be together. And when Callie speaks again, there is no hesitation. There is only confidence. There is only _them_. And Arizona knows that even if she wanted to say no, even if she wanted to play it safe and keep her heart tucked away, she'd be powerless to do so because everything about this feels so _right_.

"I have never been more sure. If you'll have me...I'm coming home."

.

* * *

.

 _So I'm going home,_

 _Back to the place where I belong,_

 _And where your love has always been enough for me_

 _-Daughtry_

 _._


	2. Chapter 2

" _If you'll have me...I'm coming home."_

* * *

Closing her eyes against the overwhelming sensation of the other woman's lips on hers – the taste, the warmth, the scent that envelopes her in the inches between them – Arizona stills for a moment, a million things racing through her mind.

She wants this. She wants her family back - she wants Callie back. But somewhere over the last two years a wall has gone up; a solid, concrete wall that surrounds her heart and hasn't been opened for anybody since the night her marriage ended, since the love of her life walked away. And despite the fact that it's that very same person standing in front of her now, a part of Arizona is scared.

She can take another loss...she just doesn't think she can take _this_ loss again.

"Calliope..."

Swallowing hard, Callie touches her cheek with a reverent brush of her fingers, coaxing blue eyes open to look at her again.

"I know you're scared."

Her ex-wife can still read her like a book – can see the emotion and the fear coursing through her veins, the urge to take flight that Arizona is barely managing to hold back. Callie knows her. She _knows_.

"I'm scared too."

Arizona lets her eyes focus on the dark ones in front of her, breathing quietly in the night air, and they don't look away for even a moment. Eye contact with Callie was never awkward, or forced – not even when they first started dating. It somehow always felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"I'm scared too, Arizona. Do you know why? Because the stakes are so, _so_ much higher when it comes to you."

She bites her lip a little, her hands smoothing their way down the blonde's arms until they slip quietly into her hands.

"I found love again," she continues softly and Arizona blinks a little, willing back the flood of emotions, "but it wasn't love like we had. It was quiet, unassuming love. And I thought...I thought it was enough."

"Callie, don't..."

"But it was never going to be enough. Not after having loved you. After _being_ loved by you. Because we loved hard, and loud, and it was all-consuming in the most amazing way, it was..." she pauses, her eyes tearing up and a smile playing around the corners of her lips, "it was like nothing I'm ever going to feel again. And this isn't about Sofia, this isn't about us being parents. You and I are _meant_ to be together, Arizona. You make every day of my life incredible. You make me a better person. And I may be scared but I'm here and I am going to fight for you, because I'm not willing to settle for anything less."

The smaller woman's arms are around her neck and her lips are on hers before she can take another breath. Because Arizona knows – she _knows_ – that this is going to be it for them. This is the moment it all changes. And despite how much her fear wants to hold her back, she's ready to leap.

She's ready to leap, with Callie. If there's anything or anyone worth it – it's her.

"If you're not careful, you're going to make me fall in love with you."

The blonde's words are murmured against the soft curve of a jaw, her breath skirting lightly over Callie's skin and sending a shiver down to the very base of her spine. But all Callie can do is smile – happily, gratefully, humbly as she lets her eyes flutter shut to the feel of the other woman.

"I can only hope."

.

* * *

.

It's almost a month later, to the day, and they're laying in bed on a sunny Sunday morning when the words tumble softly out of Callie's mouth.

"Marry me."

Arizona blinks a little sleepily, her eyes finding the brunette's across the small space between them. Her arms are curled under the pillow, long blonde hair tumbling softly around her bare, freckled shoulders, and Callie's just watching her, a peaceful, content smile gracing her lips in the early morning light.

"What?"

" _Marry me."_

She repeats her statement – because it's not a question – and she reaches over to brush a stray curl off a soft, warm cheek.

"Today. Right now."

The blonde can't help but smile, and she laughs softly before shifting to her side to face the other woman. The light blue sheet slips down to mid-back and she pulls it up slightly, her hand coming to rest between them.

"What are you talking about?"

"I love you. And you love me. And you once said that none of the rest of it mattered. We're together, Arizona."

Arizona just watches her, blue eyes dancing with emotion.

"And I know...we still have things to work on. But we are together, and I want to keep working on things as your _wife_. I want to marry you, Arizona Robbins, and I don't care what you say."

The smaller woman grins then, shifting closer across the mattress and wrapping an arm around a warm, softly curved waist.

"Didn't we talk about you not putting words in my mouth...?"

She softly presses her lips to the curve of Callie's jaw, trailing kisses along one of her favourite paths, upwards toward her ear. The brunette sighs happily as silky strands of hair tickle her skin, and she honestly doesn't think she's ever been so absolutely, purely content.

"This is one time I'm not willing to compromise."

"Mmhm."

Arizona kisses the impossibly soft skin just below her ear, nuzzling her nose against a warm neck as she whispers her reply. Because she feels what Callie feels in this moment – she's felt it for the last twenty-nine days. For the last seven and a half years. She knows they still have a lot to work on, a lot of wrinkles they need to smooth out in their new (old) relationship – they need to grow together now, after spending two years growing on their own, and they need to _choose_ each other, choose to _be_ together, every single day.

But she has no doubts that they will.

Because this is exactly where they both belong. Home. With each other, and with Sofia.

"Yes."

She smiles against Callie's skin and she can sense the other woman's happiness, feel her heart speed up beneath the palm that now rests softly on her chest.

"Yes, I'll marry you."

.

* * *

.

And she does.

It's six o'clock that evening when Callie finds herself standing at the front of a small, stone church just on the outskirts of the city. Even she's not sure how they pulled it off – how their first phone call after breakfast had resulted in a minister who was free, and a beautiful location that seemed as if it had almost been waiting for them – but somehow they did, and now she's standing there in Arizona's favourite purple dress of hers and she doesn't think anything in the world could feel better or more right.

Alex is there, with Jo and April. Bailey, and Meredith, and Richard. It's been raining all afternoon; the morning sunshine quickly turning dark and grey and cloudy, typical of a Seattle spring – but that doesn't matter to either woman. Their first wedding day was sunshine and flowers and elaborate decor. This one will be rain and dark skies, but it will also be a family affair. This one is about coming home. Where love is simply enough.

And Arizona is walking towards her – in the red dress that Callie loves so much – escorted down the aisle by their beautiful daughter, who's beaming brighter than she has in years. Maybe ever.

And that has been the best thing of all about the last month.

Not only have they been happy with each other again, but their daughter, their beautiful little Sofia, has been the happiest little girl in the world. Their family is whole again, and Callie knows without a doubt that they have made the best decision of their lives by choosing to fight for this.

Their vows are short and sweet, meaningful to them both, and when Arizona slides a new ring onto Callie's finger her heart feels like it's about to burst with happiness.

The blonde reaches into the pocket on her dress, fingers wrapping around a delicate, white gold chain, and she turns to crouch in front of Sofia, surprising her and Callie both as she carefully undoes a clasp and then fastens the necklace around the little girl's neck. Two heart pendants rest against her sternum; white and yellow gold, hanging together on one chain. The chain is a little long – but she'll grow into it.

Because these hearts were Callie and Arizona's past – their beginning – but now? They are Sofia's future.

There are still arguments to be had, and hurt feelings to be repaired, and boxes to move, and a house to be sold, but this is the beginning of the rest of their lives. This time, they're choosing love and each other no matter what obstacles may come their way – because anything less, anything except this, is simply not worth it.

"With the power invested in me by the church and the state of Washington, I now pronounce you – wife, and wife."

.

.

 _/fin_


End file.
